The document discusses a poem by Leo Marks that was read at the Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding. It provides context about the poem and poet Leo Marks, and explains how the poem can be used for cryptographic purposes by selecting words from the poem and using the letter positions to encrypt a message. It then walks through the steps to encrypt a sample message using this technique.
2. “A poem by Leo Marks was read at the Clinton-
Mezvinsky wedding. I don’t think anyone will be
using that poem for cryptographic purposes ever
again. But don’t blame it on Chelsea. In fact, she
deserves a little credit for reintroducing a
fascinating figure to the public.”
Richard Hyfler, Forbes
3. The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.
5. Step 1: Pick five words from the poem.
LIFE YOURS SLEEP DEATH GRASS
6. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
7. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
L I F E Y O U R S S L E
E P D E A T H G R A S S
8. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
L I F E Y O U R S S L E
E P D E A T H G R A S S
1 2
9. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
L I F E Y O U R S S L E
E P D E A T H G R A S S
3 1 2
10. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
L I F E Y O U R S S L E
4 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 3 1 2
11. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
L I F E Y O U R S S L E
4 4 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 3 1 2
12. Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by
labeling the first A with 1, the second A with 2,
and so on. Do the same with the Bs, picking up
the numbering where you left off with the As.
Keep going through the alphabet.
L I F E Y O U R S S L E
12 11 8 4 24 14 23 16 18 19 13 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 15 3 7 1 22 10 9 17 2 20 21
13. Step 3: What was your last number? Write your
plaintext out in a grid that has that many
columns. Fill in the final row with gibberish.
14. Step 3: What was your last number? Write your
plaintext out in a grid that has that many
columns. Fill in the final row with gibberish.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
d e c i p h e r i n g i s i n m y o p i n i o n
o n e o f t h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o
f a r t s a n d i f e a r i h a v e w a s t e d
u p o n i t m o r e t i m e t h a n i t d e s e
r v e s c h a r l e s b a b b a g e q x w y z a
“Deciphering is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating of arts, and I fear I have
wasted upon it more time than it deserves.” (Charles Babbage)
15. Step 4: Read down the columns, taking the
columns in the order specified by the numbers
from Step 2.
16. L I F E Y O U R S S L E
12 11 8 4 24 14 23 16 18 19 13 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 15 3 7 1 22 10 9 17 2 20 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
d e c i p h e r i n g i s i n m y o p i n i o n
o n e o f t h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o
f a r t s a n d i f e a r i h a v e w a s t e d
u p o n i t m o r e t i m e t h a n i t d e s e
r v e s c h a r l e s b a b b a g e q x w y z a
ITAIB
17. L I F E Y O U R S S L E
12 11 8 4 24 14 23 16 18 19 13 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 15 3 7 1 22 10 9 17 2 20 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
d e c i p h e r i n g i s i n m y o p i n i o n
o n e o f t h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o
f a r t s a n d i f e a r i h a v e w a s t e d
u p o n i t m o r e t i m e t h a n i t d e s e
r v e s c h a r l e s b a b b a g e q x w y z a
ITAIB GSETS
18. L I F E Y O U R S S L E
12 11 8 4 24 14 23 16 18 19 13 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 15 3 7 1 22 10 9 17 2 20 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
d e c i p h e r i n g i s i n m y o p i n i o n
o n e o f t h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o
f a r t s a n d i f e a r i h a v e w a s t e d
u p o n i t m o r e t i m e t h a n i t d e s e
r v e s c h a r l e s b a b b a g e q x w y z a
ITAIB GSETS REDOR
19. L I F E Y O U R S S L E
12 11 8 4 24 14 23 16 18 19 13 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 15 3 7 1 22 10 9 17 2 20 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
d e c i p h e r i n g i s i n m y o p i n i o n
o n e o f t h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o
f a r t s a n d i f e a r i h a v e w a s t e d
u p o n i t m o r e t i m e t h a n i t d e s e
r v e s c h a r l e s b a b b a g e q x w y z a
ITAIB GSETS REDOR IOTNS
20. L I F E Y O U R S S L E
12 11 8 4 24 14 23 16 18 19 13 5
E P D E A T H G R A S S
6 15 3 7 1 22 10 9 17 2 20 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
d e c i p h e r i n g i s i n m y o p i n i o n
o n e o f t h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o
f a r t s a n d i f e a r i h a v e w a s t e d
u p o n i t m o r e t i m e t h a n i t d e s e
r v e s c h a r l e s b a b b a g e q x w y z a
ITAIB GSETS REDOR IOTNS NODEA IAIEB OGESZ
MCAHA ONENE PAWIQ SFRMA PFSIC HTATH
NSHTB CEROE EHNMA DOFUR INTEY NOFEE
IMIRL YIVAG ENAPV ITATX NISDW
21. Step 5: Prepend the message with a coded
version of the words from the poem you picked
in Step 1.
22. Step 5: Prepend the message with a coded
version of the words from the poem you picked
in Step 1.
LIFE → 2nd word → B
YOURS → 18th word → R
SLEEP → 37th word → 37-26=11 → K
DEATH → 47th word → 47-26=21 → U
GRASS → 63rd word → 63-52=11 → K
23. Step 5: Prepend the message with a coded
version of the words from the poem you picked
in Step 1.
BRKUK ITAIB GSETS REDOR IOTNS NODEA
IAIEB OGESZ MCAHA ONENE PAWIQ SFRMA
PFSIC HTATH NSHTB CEROE EHNMA DOFUR
INTEY NOFEE IMIRL YIVAG ENAPV ITATX
NISDW
24. Poem Codes
Step 1: Pick five words from the poem.
Step 2: Number the letters in your five words by labeling
the first A with 1, the second A with 2, and so on. Do the
same with the Bs, picking up the numbering where you
left off with the As. Keep going through the alphabet.
Step 3: What was your last number? Write your plaintext
out in a grid that has that many columns. Fill in the final
row with gibberish.
Step 4: Read down the columns, taking the columns in
the order specified by the numbers from Step 2.
Step 5: Prepend the message with a coded version of the
words from the poem you picked in Step 1.
28. “In December 1943 I wrote a poem which I gave to
Violette Szabo to use as a code. This book is
dedicated to all those who shared it with her.”
--Leo Marks, Between Silk and Cyanide (1998)
Head of communications for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SEO) during WW2.Marks’ job was to make sure that SEO could communicate with its secret agents in Europe.He took several steps to improve the secrecy of SEO’s communication methods, including ending the use of well-known poems for poem codes. He started writing poems for his agents to memorize and use as the basis for poem codes.The Life That I Have was written by Marks not for SEO, but for his girlfriend Ruth Hambro, after she died in a plane crash in 1943. Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leo-Wormelow.jpg
The poem was later used as a poem code, however, by VioletteSzabo, one of SEO’s agents in France. Marks didn’t tell her he wrote it. She was captured a few months later by the Germans and was executed in a concentration camp.VioletteSzabo: Whirlwind romance with Etienne Szabo, a French officer, in 1940. She was 19, he was 31. They had a child, Tania, in 1942, but Etienne never saw her. He died in battle in Egypt during the Allies’ North African campaign. His death motivated Violette to join SEO.Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Violette_Szabo_IWM_photo.jpg
Szabo’s life as a secret agent was turned into the 1958 film Carve Her Name with Pride. The poem was recited in the film, but at that time, it still wasn’t known to be Marks’ work.Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carvehernamepride.jpg
Marks didn’t claim it until 1998, when he wrote this on the dedication page of his memoirs, Between Silk and Cyanide: “In December 1943 I wrote a poem which I gave to VioletteSzabo to use as a code. This book is dedicated to all those who shared it with her.”Chelsea Clinton chose to have this poem read at her wedding, in spite of its connections to two women who met tragic ends.